Published: Wednesday, August 21, 2013 at 4:25 p.m.

Last Modified: Friday, August 23, 2013 at 2:36 a.m.

LAKELAND | Around 100 Lakeland Electric customers were waiting to get power restored this afternoon following yesterday's severe storm that knocked out power to thousands of homes, damaged power lines and brought down trees.

Facts

OUTAGE TRACKER

Photo Galleries

At its peak, there were 15,052 Lakeland Electric customers without power, city spokesman Kevin Cook said this morning.

The National Weather Service in Ruskin said the Lakeland area appeared to be the hardest hit by heavy rain and winds, but damage was seen across the county. Nearly 2 inches of rain fell in some areas of the county. Lakeland Linder Airport reported 65 mph winds.

This morning, Lakeland Electric crews are working to repair six bad transformers, 3 broken poles and 19 locations with downed wires, Cook said. Fifty line workers worked overnight to restore power, and 28 fresh crew members reported this morning, he said. The cities of Bartow and Kissimmee are each sending four crew members to help, he said.

Power was knocked out to traffic lights at some busy intersections around the city, including at South Florida Avenue and Lime Street and South Combee Road at North and South Crystal Lake roads.

Cook said power to all of the traffic lights within the city had been restored by Wednesday night.

About 4:30 p.m., more than 1,000 Tampa Electric customers in the Winter Haven area, including Auburndale, Inwood and Eagle Lake, were without power, but as of 9 p.m., almost all power had been restored, according to the company's website.

Lakeland police officers were out assessing damage and assisting Lakeland Electric crews with keeping residents safe from downed power lines.

LPD spokesman Sgt. Gary Gross said the department immediately started receiving calls of fallen trees and live power lines that were sparking near homes.

"Within minutes after the storm, officers were doing damage assessments and notifying the appropriate city departments to handle the situation," Gross said.

He said most of the calls came from around the Lake Morton area and in North Lakeland.

The Polk County Sheriff's Office and LPD did not have any reports of injuries from the storm, but at least one family was displaced from a damaged home.

Polk County Fire Rescue spokesman Brad Ruhmann said the family was receiving assistance from the Red Cross after part of the roof blew off of their mobile home on Lakewood Circle in Lakeland.

Several reports of a possible tornado were investigated around the mobile home, which is near Jungle Street and South Combee Road, but the National Weather Service did not have any confirmed sightings.

Nicole Love saw some of the storm's worst damage when a large tree fell on the garage apartment, which she owns, next to her home.

No one was inside the apartment at 1014 W. Orange St., but the tree crushed the front porch and stairs.

"We heard some snapping, like click, click, click, then it was boom," she said. "I just thank God I wasn't in there."

Fallen trees and street light outages in Lakeland included a tree on power lines in the area of the 1600 block of East Fern Road, a tree down on power lines near 10th Street and Lincoln Avenue, a tree down in the area of the 800 block of East Bella Vista, a tree down near 10th Street and Webster Avenue, and a traffic light completely down in the road at New Jersey and Sylvester roads, Gross said.

The National Weather Service said most of the reported damage was from fallen trees and downed power lines.

The storms were mostly out of Polk County by about 4:45 p.m. and had moved into Pasco and Hernando counties, according to the National Weather Service.

Cook said city of Lakeland Public Works crews worked through the afternoon to clean up tree limbs and debris that littered the roads.

Other reported damage included dents from a fallen tree limb to an off-duty LPD officer's personal truck and patrol car, pieces of a metal roof in the road near U.S. 98 and the Polk Parkway, roof damage at the Lakeland Livestock Auction building, a wall blown over in the Santa Fe Catholic High School baseball field and damage to the front door awning at the Lakeland Yacht and Country Club.

Severe storms also passed through Hillsborough and Pinellas counties Wednesday afternoon, causing heavy rains and damaging winds, including dime-sized hail in Clearwater, according to the National Weather Service.

Hundreds of lightning strikes were recorded across the Tampa Bay area, but the National Weather Service had no confirmed direct hits in Polk County as of about 8 p.m.

More storms are expected throughout the week across Central Florida, but it was too early on Wednesday for Weather Service meteorologists to determine their severity.

[ Stephanie Allen can be reached at stephanie.allen@theledger.com or 863-802-7550. ]

<p>LAKELAND | Around 100 Lakeland Electric customers were waiting to get power restored this afternoon following yesterday's severe storm that knocked out power to thousands of homes, damaged power lines and brought down trees.</p><p>At its peak, there were 15,052 Lakeland Electric customers without power, city spokesman Kevin Cook said this morning.</p><p>The National Weather Service in Ruskin said the Lakeland area appeared to be the hardest hit by heavy rain and winds, but damage was seen across the county. Nearly 2 inches of rain fell in some areas of the county. Lakeland Linder Airport reported 65 mph winds.</p><p> </p><p>This morning, Lakeland Electric crews are working to repair six bad transformers, 3 broken poles and 19 locations with downed wires, Cook said. Fifty line workers worked overnight to restore power, and 28 fresh crew members reported this morning, he said. The cities of Bartow and Kissimmee are each sending four crew members to help, he said.</p><p>Power was knocked out to traffic lights at some busy intersections around the city, including at South Florida Avenue and Lime Street and South Combee Road at North and South Crystal Lake roads.</p><p>Cook said power to all of the traffic lights within the city had been restored by Wednesday night. </p><p>About 4:30 p.m., more than 1,000 Tampa Electric customers in the Winter Haven area, including Auburndale, Inwood and Eagle Lake, were without power, but as of 9 p.m., almost all power had been restored, according to the company's website. </p><p>Lakeland police officers were out assessing damage and assisting Lakeland Electric crews with keeping residents safe from downed power lines.</p><p>LPD spokesman Sgt. Gary Gross said the department immediately started receiving calls of fallen trees and live power lines that were sparking near homes. </p><p>"Within minutes after the storm, officers were doing damage assessments and notifying the appropriate city departments to handle the situation," Gross said.</p><p>He said most of the calls came from around the Lake Morton area and in North Lakeland. </p><p>The Polk County Sheriff's Office and LPD did not have any reports of injuries from the storm, but at least one family was displaced from a damaged home.</p><p>Polk County Fire Rescue spokesman Brad Ruhmann said the family was receiving assistance from the Red Cross after part of the roof blew off of their mobile home on Lakewood Circle in Lakeland.</p><p>Several reports of a possible tornado were investigated around the mobile home, which is near Jungle Street and South Combee Road, but the National Weather Service did not have any confirmed sightings.</p><p>Nicole Love saw some of the storm's worst damage when a large tree fell on the garage apartment, which she owns, next to her home.</p><p>No one was inside the apartment at 1014 W. Orange St., but the tree crushed the front porch and stairs. </p><p>"We heard some snapping, like click, click, click, then it was boom," she said. "I just thank God I wasn't in there."</p><p>Fallen trees and street light outages in Lakeland included a tree on power lines in the area of the 1600 block of East Fern Road, a tree down on power lines near 10th Street and Lincoln Avenue, a tree down in the area of the 800 block of East Bella Vista, a tree down near 10th Street and Webster Avenue, and a traffic light completely down in the road at New Jersey and Sylvester roads, Gross said.</p><p>The National Weather Service said most of the reported damage was from fallen trees and downed power lines. </p><p>The storms were mostly out of Polk County by about 4:45 p.m. and had moved into Pasco and Hernando counties, according to the National Weather Service. </p><p>Cook said city of Lakeland Public Works crews worked through the afternoon to clean up tree limbs and debris that littered the roads. </p><p>Other reported damage included dents from a fallen tree limb to an off-duty LPD officer's personal truck and patrol car, pieces of a metal roof in the road near U.S. 98 and the Polk Parkway, roof damage at the Lakeland Livestock Auction building, a wall blown over in the Santa Fe Catholic High School baseball field and damage to the front door awning at the Lakeland Yacht and Country Club.</p><p>Severe storms also passed through Hillsborough and Pinellas counties Wednesday afternoon, causing heavy rains and damaging winds, including dime-sized hail in Clearwater, according to the National Weather Service. </p><p>Hundreds of lightning strikes were recorded across the Tampa Bay area, but the National Weather Service had no confirmed direct hits in Polk County as of about 8 p.m. </p><p>More storms are expected throughout the week across Central Florida, but it was too early on Wednesday for Weather Service meteorologists to determine their severity.</p><p>[ Stephanie Allen can be reached at stephanie.allen@theledger.com or 863-802-7550. ]</p>